


Telling Behaviour

by subcircus



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Community: consci_fan_mo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-06
Updated: 2011-12-06
Packaged: 2017-10-27 00:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/289581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subcircus/pseuds/subcircus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coda to "A Herald of the New Age" (S04Ep10). Arthur is being more of a prat than usual, Merlin just bears it, but is there more to it than he knows?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Telling Behaviour

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for season four, up to and including episode 10.

Merlin knew exactly what Arthur was doing. The king was griping even more than usual, snapping when Merlin had done nothing wrong. He was pushing him, pushing him away, testing his patience and loyalty to see if he’d betray and abandon him as well. But Merlin knew that he was not the one to blame and Arthur would eventually realise that nothing he could do would drive his manservant away. In the meantime Merlin endured it with good grace and carried on as if everything were normal.

Arthur would see the truth soon enough and everything would be right again.

*-*

Arthur knew exactly what Merlin was doing. He was bright and cheery, no matter what Arthur commanded him to do. Arthur yelled at him and bullied him even more than usual, yet all Merlin did was grin and joke. Arthur knew what he had seen though. Merlin was a sorcerer. He pushed him and provoked him, expecting the warlock to unleash some awful curse upon him but all he saw was Merlin being Merlin. And now he knew what Gaius had meant when they spoke at Gaius’ sickbed.

He saw the truth now and everything would soon be made right.


End file.
